Sometimes while teaching at youth group I have these "Ah-ha!" moments. I had one the other night. This time it happened while teaching the High Schoolers to be "doers of the Word not just hearers." I went through and gave them all these scriptures that tell them that God is not interested in how much you know, but in how much you obey what you know! But while standing there teaching obedience I felt a major disconnect from my audience. Obedience sounds boring...old fashioned...threatening. Nobody likes being told what to do, especially teenagers! "Why should I obey?" Then it hit me. God wants you to obey his word, not because he's some grumpy old man in the sky that likes to boss people around. He doesn't make rules just so he can shake his fist at you when you break them. That's not his purpose. God creates rules and wants you to obey them because it brings you the greatest blessing! He's in it for your joy! Obedience is the smartest thing you can do for yourself. Disobedience is the dumbest. In reading James 1, we see that "whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do." By knowing God's will and doing it you ensure blessing. By knowing God's will and not doing it you ensure to bring pain and trouble into your life. In disobedience you are your own worst enemy and the chief cause of calamity in your life. This is exemplified in Jeremiah 32, where God is telling the Israelites all the trouble they are bringing upon themselves! But in verse 39 God promises that He "will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them." As creator of the "machine", the omniscient God of the universe is telling you what will make you the happiest. When He reveals His will to you it's like He's holding out a huge slice of mouth-watering cake. "Take it," He says. When we refuse to obey His will it's like we're pushing his hand and the cake to the floor. "No thanks...we'll keep eating our manure," we say...even though it is the very thing that is making us sick. Disobedience shouldn't just make you feel guilty, it should make you feel dumb. God wants to bless you. He wants your life to be full of joy and love and peace! He's showing you how! Obey Him. His will is for your good.

"For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome." - 1 John 5:3

"At what point does a hobby become an idol?" That's the question I've been asking myself a lot lately. For some reason technology has intrigued and entranced me. I'm captivated by its seemingly limitless promises of function and information. I'm "wowed" by the amazing new things it does to make my life more comfortable and productive. Simply put, I love the latest gadgets, neat new toys, and helpful web-tools that our generation has created. Practically, this translates into a lot of time spent reading about the newest "smartphones", "tablets", "apps", websites, and the like. But since technology is progressing at such a blindingly fast rate, it takes a lot of reading to keep up. But how much reading is too much reading? How much focus is too much focus? And how much time is too much time? This is a hard question to answer because technology in and of itself is not morally wrong. Because it's not a moral issue it makes it conveniently easy to blur the lines and justify our obsession. "It's just a hobby...everyone has hobbies." "It helps me get my work done faster." "It's a great tool to communicate!" "It helps me stay in touch with the people I love". All of these reasons are true and none of them are wrong. Still, the question remains..."when has a hobby turned into an idol?"

I don't think there is an easy, cookie-cutter answer that applies across the board, but I do believe the first commandment can help: "You shall have no other gods before me." (Exodus 20:3). A god is something you are devoted to. It is something you give your time, energy, thoughts, and money to. A good way to find out if your hobby has become an idol is to see where your greatest devotion lies. For example, something is wrong when you can name every "smartphone" on every telephone carrier, but you can't name all of the books in the Bible. Something is wrong if you've memorized every batting average in the MLB but don't know Proverbs 3:5-6 by heart. Something is wrong when you know every Star Wars character, but don't know who Nehemiah or Zephaniah is. Something is wrong if you run to your email or facebook rather than your Bible when you first wake up in the morning. Something is wrong when you've learned how to speak Star Trek language and not Biblical Greek and Hebrew! (Yes, people know how to speak Star Trek, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings languages!) Something is wrong when you spend more time working on your classic car than you do serving the Church of God. Where is your devotion? What do you spend the most time thinking about and meditating on? Is it the God of the universe? Or something else?

For me, God was convicting me that technology was becoming an idol to me. It was competing with Him for the throne of my heart. He told me to shatter my idol. "But God...it's useful!"..."But God...it's fun!"..."But God..." Shatter it. I know that when God calls me to give something up it is for my greatest good and deepest joy. I need to trust Him and give it up. So I'm trying. I've put a "time-limit plug in" on my web browser that limits the time I can spend on useless sites like Facebook and Google Reader. I've deleted all my RSS feeds about technology and have added new feeds about God, Christianity and ministry. I've tried to stick with a rule that says "before you touch anything electronic, you should first touch the Bible." I no longer want to be consumed by my consuming. I want to live a life with purpose and meaning. It's hard to break old habits, but I'm excited to see how much more I can accomplish for the Lord and learn about Him by freeing up all of this "wasted" time. I'm excited to have more time to have meaningful conversations with my wife. I'm excited for more effective ministry. It's going to be a good year. Pray for me.

"Only one life, and gone so fast. Only what's done for Christ will last."